The Surgeon

z3467949
George Gillies
SCENE 1: THE SURGERY
FADE IN
INT. HOSPITAL SURGERY ROOM

STEPHEN lays on an operating table. He is topless, with a

hospital sheet over the bottom half of his body. His lanky
body is covered in bruises and cuts. Blood runs down over
his face from his near balding hairline. His eyes slowly
open as he regains consciousness and adjusts to the room
around him. He can barely move his neck without it aching.
An IV line runs from his left arm to a soft bag of fluid. As
he floats into consciousness, he remains silent. As he
adjusts to his environment, he can hear the sound of the
heart monitor, beep beep, beep, and of doctors and nurses
moving around him preparing their tools for surgery.
From his perspective, the light above him is blinding with a
prosthetic sounding hum. He looks over to his right but
again, his neck hurts and he recoils in pain. He looks out
of the corner of his eyes and sees a tray, on it an array of
tools; things he doesnt understand the uses of. Things that
look like they cut, slice, pinch, and hold.
He looks back up at the light.
DOCTOR
Youre going to be just fine,
Stephen. Theres been an accident,
but dont worry, youre in the
right hands. Im going to need you
to count back from 10.

STEPHEN meets the doctors eyes and starts to panic. There is

clearly something wrong. He blinks nervously as a NURSE
brings an anaesthetic face mask to his mouth. The sound of
gas being released is heard, and STEPHEN, while trying to
move his head, inhales deeply.

The DOCTOR gives an unsettling grin and winks with his left
eye before pulling on his surgical mask.
STEPHEN
Wait...wait...

His voice is hoarse and raspy. He struggles to get the words

out, as his consciousness again leaves his body. His eye
lids become heavier and heavier, before finally closing.
FADE OUT
 2.

SCENE 2: THE TRAIN

FADE IN
EXT. TRAIN TRACKS - DAY

The white screen fades into a close up, head on shot of a

train speeding along.
CUT TO

INT. TRAIN CARRIAGE

The train carriage is full of passengers. Colourful but
ordinary looking people sit in their own worlds with
earphones on, reading books, magazines, and tapping away on
their iPhones. No one talks, only the sound of the train
buzzing through the tunnel is heard.
The camera zooms in on STEPHEN hunched over, scribbling in a
sketch pad. He occasionally taps his pencil on the page as
he considers what line to draw next. We see its a portrait
of a smiling woman with a red ribbon in her hair. Dressed in
a button up shirt and some blue jeans, he looks relaxed. He
blends in with the general public .
Stephen looks up from his sketch pad to scan the carriage,
looking at everyone onboard. He soon notices a man facing
him from a few rows away. The man is dressed in standard
office attire; a suit and tie, with a neat brown leather
suitcase on his lap. He blends in well with the rest of the
commuters.
STEPHEN recognises the mans face. He cannot remember where
hes seen the face. The mans face, unbeknownst to STEPHEN,
is that of the DOCTOR. The man looks directly back,
and gives an unsettling grin and winks with his left eye.
STEPHEN half smiles at him, as one does when they think
theyve met someone before, pretending to remember. The man
continues to stare back at STEPHEN, starting to make him
feel uncomfortable. The face doesnt change so much as even
a blink. Just a dead, eye to eye stare.
The train stops at the next station. STEPHEN puts his sketch
pad and pencil in his bag and rises from his seat, but the
second he gets up, so does the man whos been staring at
him. STEPHEN quickly turns around, and we see him head on
with a concerned look in his eyes. He heads to the door, and
jumps off the train, peering over his shoulder.
CUT TO

EXT. TRAIN STATION PLATFORM

 3.

A loud blend of noises is heard. People rushing, talking on

their phones, train doors opening and closing, coming and
going.

The camera follows STEPHEN pace down the side of the

platform, as he quickly gets back on three carriages down.
INT. TRAIN CARRIAGE

He relaxes into a seat, and looks out the window as the

train noisily leaves the platform. Hes begun biting his
nails, an old habit. His fingernails are an eye sore; short,
flakey, and red with pain.
A phone rings, drawing STEPHENs attention back to the
passengers on board. A man in a t-shirt and jeans with a
baseball cap answers. He mutters a few barely audible words
as STEPHEN stares with a glint of fear in his eyes. The man
in the baseball cap suddenly looks directly at STEPHEN. It
is the same face of the DOCTOR. He gives him the same
unsettling grin and wink with his left eye.

STEPHEN feels even more unsettled, and starts to panic. He

runs his hand through his lack of hair, the other hand
having its nails chewed off. He fumbles his way to the
carriage door to avoid the mans knowing gaze. He is clearly
agitated.

STEPHEN waits anxiously for the next stop. He taps his

knuckles impatiently on the train door. A pained expression
marks his face, one of confusion and fear. He knows the face
from somewhere, but he knows its not from somewhere good.
Finally the next station arrives, and he bursts out through
the doors.
CUT TO
EXT. TRAIN STATION PLATFORM - DAY

Similar to before, the train platform is full of commuters.

The sounds of trains coming and going, people walking and
talking are louder than before, growing almost unbearable.
A close up on STEPHENs hands shows him cracking his
knuckles repeatedly and erratically. He walks quickly,
almost running, from one train to the opposite side of the
station and leaps on another train.
CUT TO

INT. TRAIN CARRIAGE

STEPHEN crouches into a seat and watches as the train he has
left shuts its doors and departs the platform.
 4.

The screen cuts in and out with a bright flash of white.

STEPHEN looks bewildered. He blinks repeatedly, as if there
was something stuck in his eye. He begins chewing his nails,
quickly changing between fingers. He cracks his knuckles
again.

He still looks anxious and just as his train is about to

depart, a MAN IN A RED SHIRT jumps on. STEPHEN starts to
sweat as he feels the man moving towards him.
MAN IN A RED SHIRT(O.S)
Is this seat taken?
STEPHEN skittishly jumps in fright only to see an unfamiliar
and unshaved face smiling back at him.
STEPHEN
Uhh...
His voice trails off as the MAN IN A RED SHIRT sits down
next to him, oblivious to STEPHENs lack of an answer.
STEPHEN rubs his sweaty palms on his chinos, trying to calm
himself down. He inhales and exhales deeply, still shaken.
He holds his hand to his chest, feeling his heartbeat.
The train rattles on noisily. The internal lights flicker on
and off, causing STEPHEN to blink profusely again. The
subtle buzz of the light sounds louder than usual, almost
like a bee.

He rubs his eyes and tries to focus his vision. As he does

so he notices the reflection of the man sitting opposite him
in the train window. It is the same face hes been running
away from. The man, this time dressed in shorts and a
singlet, stares at him through the reflection, giving an
unsettling grin and the dreaded wink with his left eye.
Wide eyed, STEPHEN turns, mouth almost chattering, to
confirm its the same face but is instead met with the face
of a young man who looks confused and unimpressed at the
sight of STEPHEN.
CUT TO
EXT. TRAIN STATION PLATFORM

As soon as the train stops at the next station, STEPHEN

again bursts through the doors. In his rushed state, he
trips but recovers his footing, running towards the train
station exit. By the time he arrives at the bottom of the
escalator up to the exit its congested with commuters. He
battles his way up the escalator through the crowd; pushing,
apologising, and attracting unkind looks.
 5.

CUT TO
EXT. BUSY PUBLIC STREET - NIGHT
We hear STEPHENs exhausted panting over a flux of city
traffic sounds. Car horns, peoples footsteps, peoples
conversations as they walk past STEPHEN. Rain pours down
over a busy intersection outside the train station. It is
now nighttime with blurry car lights seen crossing the
screen. Pedestrians carry umbrellas.

STEPHEN rushes out of the station, and looks behind him,

still panicking. A loud car horn is heard as he stares
completely wide eyed into the headlights. The white
headlights take over the screen as the sound of the car horn
fades out.

FADE OUT

SCENE 3: THE AMBULANCE

FADE IN
INT. AMBULANCE
The white light turns into the interior light of an
ambulance. Two paramedics sit on either side of STEPHEN
working at full pace to keep him alive. STEPHENs face is
wet with blood, sweat, and rain. An oxygen mask covers his
mouth. Coloured tubes, instruments and machines decorate the
inside of the ambulance.
Sound fades in and out as if from STEPHENs semi
consciousness - the ambulance siren is heard distantly, the
paramedics voices sound distorted.
PARAMEDIC #1
Stay with us, stay with us!

Their voices still sound distorted.

STEPHENs eyes gently close.
CUT TO
 6.

SCENE 4: THE FLASHBACK

INT. HOUSE - DAY
The camera pans across a bedroom wall. A wind up toy plays a
lullaby tune. Plush toys sit on top of a chest of drawers.
Colourful drawings sit on the wall, clearly done by a child.
A few of them have STEPHEN written somewhere on them. Big
houses with stick figures outside, a sun with a smiley face
in it, a green dinosaur. Sun lights the room through a
window with its curtains blowing in a soft breeze. A photo
sits next to the bed. STEPHEN is held by his mother, who
wears a ribbon in her hair. Theyre smiling cheerfully at
the camera.
STEPHEN, aged seven, lays chest down in the middle of his
room. Different coloured pencils litter the floor all around
him as he doodles in a sketchpad.
We hear him humming along to the tune of the wind up toy. He
is concentrating on his drawing, colouring in the outlines
of a colourful train.

A large crashing sound is heard. STEPHEN freezes and looks

up towards his door. A scream breaks out, but the noise of
it fades away. We hear the lullaby tune playing, with every
other sound now blurred behind it.
The muffled screaming continues along with thuds against the
other side of the wall. STEPHEN sits up with alarmed
curiosity.
From STEPHENs point of view inside his room we see a man
drag his mother across the doorway, down the hall. STEPHEN
knows the man, its his STEP FATHER.
STEP FATHER
Shut the fuck up! Ive warned you!
STEPHEN jumps to his feet and runs to the doorway, and pokes
half of his head out into the hall. His STEP FATHER is
angry, and his mother, being dragged out backwards by her
two arms is sobbing and yelling. She tries grabbing onto a
bookshelf to resist, but it topples over, spilling the books
onto the floor.

She sees STEPHEN, and momentarily stops crying and yelling.

Her face bright red and wet from tears, she looks at him.
STEPHEN stares back, paralysed with shock and fear.
STEPHEN, frightened to death, remains still. He watches as
his STEP FATHER opens a car with one arm, shoves his mother
inside, and slams the door. He looks at his mother as she
 7.

hits the inside of the car window with her hands. STEPHENs
STEP FATHER rushes around the other side of the car, gets in
and starts the engine. He turns to see STEPHEN and gives an
unsettling grin. He winks with his left eye. The car takes
off.
Two tears, one from each eye, roll down STEPHENs face.
Having remained motionless, he clenches his teeth, and his
lips begin to tremble. He puts a finger in his mouth to bite
the nail. A close up of his small toes show that he has
urinated.
He blinks the tears from his eyes. He stares at the empty
car space outside the house from inside the hallway,
littered with books. The front door remains open.

The wind up lullaby song stops.

STEPHEN inhales.
FADE OUT

SCENE 5: THE HOSPITAL

FADE IN

INT. HOSPITAL SURGERY ROOM

The white fades in to show STEPHEN back in the emergency
room. He is again laying on an operating table, covered in
cuts and bruises. He blurs back into consciousness,
flinching from the blinding light above.
Just like in Scene 1, the camera shows an IV line running
from his left arm to a soft bag of fluid. He remains silent
as he slowly recognises the room around him, along with the
sound of doctors and nurses preparing their tools and
machines for surgery.
STEPHEN looks over to his right to see if the same silver
tray is there. It is not.
He looks back up at the light, as the DOCTOR leans over him.
A fear comes into STEPHENs eyes as he clearly recognises
the face of the DOCTOR.
DOCTOR
Youre going to be just fine,
Stephen. Theres been an accident,
but dont worry, youre in the
right hands. Im going to need you
to count back from 10.
 8.

The DOCTOR gives an unsettling grin and winks with his left
eye before pulling on his surgical mask.
FADE OUT
THE END